Carb-Backloading and morning training

I've been hearing about Kiefer and his carb-backloading. It makes sense and I'm interested in trying it out. However, I can't train in the afternoon/night due to work so I train in the mornings. I heard that there is a morning training protocol. Anyone know what it is??

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Answers

Listen to Robb Wolf's latest podcast, #147. They address this question directly. Here is the transcript if you don't want to download it.

It's a long discussion, like 12 minutes, so it's worth the listen. They address your exact question though...

Robb says "His deal with the ideal time to train and his scheme is afternoon or
evening second best is morning and then what you do is some of the post
workout shakes, one carb feeding that???s not enormous but then you slip
back into a ketogenic gig and then you do the larger carb meal that
evening. He made an interesting point too that the carb refeed is more based
around what you will do for tomorrow???s training not so much that you???re
specifically recovering from today???s training because you know you???re
going to potentially have a fasted period then a ketogenic period so you
want to stick enough muscle glycogen in so that you???re looking ahead,
looking at the next day???s training which then actually necessitates some
sort of planning and stuff like that."

The idea behind carb-backloading is that you consume all of your carbs towards the end of your day, ie, around dinner time. The reason for this is so that you can make the most of your "sleeping fast" (suppose you slept for 8 hours a night, that is 8 hours of fasting) and further encourage more fat burning during the morning and day by omitting carbs and keeping your insulin level low.

Then there is the idea that consuming your carbs at dinner helps restore glycogen in the muscles and makes your body ready to tackle your morning workout (so in this case, you sort of use it like a pre-workout meal for the next morning). Finally, some people believe consuming carbs around dinner time helps you sleep better at night, provided you finish your meal and allow your body 2-3 hours before you go to sleep to digest it (allowing for insulin to go back down since insulin blocks GH, growth hormone)

So why carb-backload?

Upon waking up your body is already in a fasted state, and your insulin level is low, so by omitting carbs in the morning and day you allow more time for fat burning.

Restore glycogen with a carb refeed that will aid in your next morning workout.

Possibly a deeper, more fulfilling sleep provided you allow your insulin to go back down by finishing your meal 2-3 hours before you sleep.